# 2005 Connecticut Sun season

The 2005 WNBA season was their seventh season and their third in Connecticut. The Sun attempted to return to the postseason for the third consecutive season and were successful. They also attempted to return to the WNBA Finals for the second consecutive year and were successful.

## Offseason
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 8 | Katie (Feenstra) Mattera | United States | Liberty |
| 2 | 21 | Erin Phillips | Australia | Australia |
| 3 | 34 | Megan Mahoney | United States | Kansas State |

### Transactions

* May 16: The Sun waived Maria Conlon and Anna Montanana.
* May 11: The Sun waived Jess Strom.
* May 9: The Sun waived Jennifer Lacy.
* May 5: The Sun signed Taj McWilliams-Franklin to a contract extension.
* May 5: The Sun waived Erika Valek.
* May 3: The Sun waived Candace Futrell.
* April 29: The Sun waived Katie Endress, Beth Swink, Dena Williams, Petra Glaeser, and Shannon Howell.
* April 27: The Sun signed Beth Swink and Jennifery Lacy.
* April 22: The Sun signed Jess Strom.
* April 21: The Sun signed Katie Endress.
* April 19: The Sun signed Anna Montanana.
* April 18: The Sun signed Dena Williams and Maria Conlon.
* April 13: The Sun signed Erika Valek.

## Season standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| Connecticut Sun $^x$ | 26 | 8 | .765 | – | 14–3 | 12–5 | 13–7 |
| Indiana Fever $^x$ | 21 | 13 | .618 | 5.0 | 14–3 | 7–10 | 14–6 |
| New York Liberty $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 8.0 | 10–7 | 8–9 | 9–11 |
| Detroit Shock $^x$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 10.0 | 12–5 | 4–13 | 11–9 |
| Washington Mystics $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 10.0 | 10–7 | 6–11 | 9–11 |
| Charlotte Sting $^o$ | 6 | 28 | .176 | 20.0 | 5–12 | 1–16 | 4–16 |

## Schedule
### Preseason

2005 Game Log: Preseason
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
1
May 1
Minnesota
W 76-71
Whalen (13)
Willingham (7)
N/A
Mohegan Sun Arena
1-0
2
May 8
Charlotte
W 69-64
Jones (15)
Jones (6)
N/A
Mohegan Sun Arena
2-0
3
May 12
@ Houston
L 57-67
Whalen, Sales (14)
Dydek, Sales (7)
N/A
Toyota Center
2-1
4
May 14
@ Minnesota
W 91-66
Whalen (16)
McWilliams-Franklin (9)
N/A
Target Center
3-1 :

### Regular season

2005 Game Log: Regular Season :
May
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
1
May 21
@ Detroit
L 67-78
McWilliams-Franklin (25)
McWilliams-Franklin (10)
Whalen (7)
Palace of Auburn Hills 9,245
0-1
2
May 22
@ Washington
W 68-67
Douglas (16)
McWilliams-Franklin (6)
Whalen (4)
MCI Center 11,155
1-1
3
May 28
Phoenix
W 85-68
McWilliams-Franklin (25)
McWilliams-Franklin (9)
Whalen (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena 9,341 (sellout)
2-1 :
June
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
4
June 4
San Antonio
W 80-69
Douglas, Dydek, McWilliams-Franklin (15)
Jones (7)
Douglas, Whalen (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,252
3-1
5
June 7
Seattle
W 81-69
Douglas (20)
Dydek (14)
Whalen (8)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,080
4-1
6
June 10
@ Houston
W 77-57
Sales (21)
Dydek (12)
Whalen (6)
Toyota Center 5,736
5-1
7
June 11
@ San Antonio
W 78-69
McWilliams-Franklin (17)
Douglas, McWilliams-Franklin (9)
Whalen (6)
AT&T Center 9,772
6-1
8
June 18
Detroit
W 73-63
Sales (17)
McWilliams-Franklin (10)
Whalen (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,427
7-1
9
June 20
@ Los Angeles
W 90-70
Sales (26)
Dydek (10)
Douglas, Whalen (6)
STAPLES Center 7,246
8-1
10
June 22
@ Seattle
L 86-95
McWilliams-Franklin (21)
Dydek, McWilliams-Franklin, Whalen (5)
Whalen (6)
KeyArena 8,120
8-2
11
June 24
@ Sacramento
W 61-50
McWilliams-Franklin (15)
McWilliams-Franklin (14)
Whalen (3)
ARCO Arena 10,067
9-2
12
June 25
@ Phoenix
W 77-69
Sales (22)
Wyckoff (9)
Sales, Wyckoff (3)
US Airways Center 8,091
10-2
13
June 28
Sacramento
W 70-66
Sales (19)
McWilliams-Franklin (7)
Whalen (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,789
11-2
14
June 30
Minnesota
W 71-56
Sales (18)
McWilliams-Franklin (9)
Whalen (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,869
12-2 :
July
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
15
July 7
@ New York
L 79-89
Whalen (24)
McWilliams-Franklin (8)
Whalen (5)
Madison Square Garden
12-3
16
July 13
@ Indiana
L 53-64
Sales (15)
Douglas (7)
Whalen (4)
Conseco Fieldhouse
12-4
17
July 15
Houston
W 70-66
Sales (22)
Dydek (7)
Whalen (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena
13-4
18
July 17
@ Minnesota
W 72-53
Dydek (17)
Dydek (8)
Douglas, Dydek (4)
Target Center
14-4
19
July 19
@ Charlotte
W 64-55
Douglas (15)
Dydek (11)
Whalen (6)
Charlotte Bobcats Arena
15-4
20
July 20
@ Detroit
L 57-66
Sales (17)
McWilliams-Franklin (11)
Sales, Whalen, Wyckoff (3)
Palace of Auburn Hills
15-5
21
July 22
Charlotte
W 73-63
Sales (21)
Sales (8)
Whalen (7)
Mohegan Sun Arena
16-5
22
July 26
Indiana
W 68-55
Sales (19)
Dydek (12)
Whalen (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena
17-5
23
July 28
New York
W 73-70
Sales (21)
Douglas, Jones, McWilliams-Franklin (6)
Whalen (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena
18-5
24
July 30
Detroit
L 66-75
Dydek (16)
Dydek (9)
Douglas (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena
18-6 :
August
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
25
August 2
@ New York
W 72-65
McWilliams-Franklin (19)
McWilliams-Franklin (7)
Whalen (6)
Madison Square Garden
19-6
26
August 6
@ Indiana
W 74-65
Sales (26)
McWilliams-Franklin (12)
Whalen (6)
Conseco Fieldhouse
20-6
27
August 9
Los Angeles
W 64-51
Douglas (22)
Douglas (8)
Whalen (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena
21-6
28
August 11
@ Washington
W 80-65
Sales (20)
McWilliams-Franklin (10)
Douglas, Whalen (4)
MCI Center
22-6
29
August 14
Washington
W 80-77
Sales (17)
McWilliams-Franklin (7)
Douglas (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena
23-6
30
August 18
Charlotte
W 84-70
Whalen (28)
McWilliams-Franklin (11)
Whalen (6)
Mohegan Sun Arena
24-6
31
August 20
New York
L 58-64
Whalen (22)
McWilliams-Franklin (11)
Sales, Whalen (3)
Mohegan Sun Arena
24-7
32
August 23
Indiana
L 63-69
McWilliams-Franklin (16)
McWilliams-Franklin (4)
Whalen (5)
Mohegan Sun Arena
24-8
33
August 26
Washington
W 81-47
Sales (20)
Dydek (11)
Whalen (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena
25-8
34
August 27
@ Charlotte
W 78-69
Jones (22)
Dydek, Jones (9)
Whalen (4)
Charlotte Bobcats Arena
26-8 :

### Playoffs

In the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Detroit Shock. Since the Sun had the better record, the series would be played with game 1 at Detroit, game 2 at Connecticut, and game 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. Even though Detroit had won three of the four regular season meetings, the Sun swept the Shock and game 3 was not needed. In the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Sun had to face the Indiana Fever. Again, the Sun had the better record and the series would be played with game 1 at Indiana and games 2 and 3 (if needed) at Connecticut. The Sun swept the Fever and game 3 was not needed. The Sun advanced to the WNBA Finals. The team would be facing off against the Sacramento Monarchs. The Sun had the better record so the series would be played with games 1, 2, and 5 at Connecticut and games 3 and 4 at Sacramento. In the regular season, the Sun had beaten the Monarchs in both meetings. It was not enough, however. The Monarchs beat the Sun 3 games to 1 to win the WNBA Finals.
* For the third consecutive season, the Sun qualify for the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
* For the third consecutive season, the Sun advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
* For the second consecutive season, the Sun advance to the WNBA Finals.
2005 Game Log: Postseason :
Eastern Conference Semifinals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1
August 31
@ Detroit
W 73-62
Sales (19)
McWilliams-Franklin (9)
Whalen (5)
Palace of Auburn Hills 5,930
1-0
2
September 2
Detroit
W 75-67
Whalen (27)
Sales (12)
Whalen (3)
Mohegan Sun Arena 8,167
2-0 :
Eastern Conference Finals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1
September 8
@ Indiana
W 73-68
McWilliams-Franklin (24)
Whalen (7)
Douglas (3)
Conseco Fieldhouse 8,777
1-0
2
September 10
Indiana
W 77-67 (OT)
McWilliams-Franklin (15)
McWilliams-Franklin, Dydek (7)
Whalen, Derevjanik (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,588
2-0 :
WNBA Finals
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceSeries
1
September 14
Sacramento
L 55-79
Sales (23)
McWilliams-Franklin (10)
Sales (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 8,157
0-1
2
September 15
Sacramento
W 77-70 (OT)
McWilliams-Franklin (24)
McWilliams-Franklin (16)
Sales, Carey, Derevjanik (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena 8,444
1-1
3
September 18
@ Sacramento
L 55-66
Sales (17)
McWilliams-Franklin (13)
McWilliams-Franklin, Whalen, Sales (2)
ARCO Arena 14,073
1-2
4
September 20
@ Sacramento
L 59-62
Jones (21)
McWilliams-Franklin (10)
Whalen (5)
ARCO Arena 15,002
1-3 :

## Depth

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench | Inactive |
| C | Margo Dydek | Brooke Wyckoff | Laura Summerton |
| PF | Taj McWilliams-Franklin | Asjha Jones | |
| SF | Nykesha Sales | Le'Coe Willingham | Jessica Brungo |
| SG | Katie Douglas | Jennifer Derevjanik | |
| PG | Lindsay Whalen | Jamie Carey | |

## Player stats

* http://www.wnba.com/sun/stats/2005/

## Awards and honors

* Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Nykesha Sales were named to the WNBA All-Star team.
* Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
* Katie Douglas was named to the All-Defensive First Team.
* Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.
* Taj McWilliams-Franklin was given the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award.
* Lindsay Whalen was given the Off Season Community Assist Award.
* Taj McWilliams-Franklin was named WNBA Player of the Week for the week of June 13, 2005.
* Lindsay Whalen was named WNBA Player of the Week for the week of June 27, 2005.
* Katie Douglas was named WNBA Player of the Week for the week of August 15, 2005.